The present invention relates to an attachment for a grain harvesting machine and particularly to such an attachment for harvesting grain in a more efficient and less wasteful manner.
A conventional combine harvester includes a rotating reel having a plurality of circumferentially positioned arms or bats which urge the grain being cut toward the machine sickle bar. While this type of apparatus has been found acceptable in many respects over the years, nevertheless a great deal of wastage occurs due to the somewhat violent action of the bats with respect to the grain. Grain heads are often shattered or broken off and never reach the actual harvesting apparatus, or grain may be bent to the ground below the sickle bar. In the case of some crops such as soybeans, as much as one-third thereof may be lost in the field merely because it is not efficiently fed into the harvesting apparatus.